Pavel Svyardlou, Akrestsina diaries. Chapter 1: Detention

But let's talk about everything step by step.

Detention

I left my house in the morning and I was being a  bit late for work. I was walking very fast... I noticed the blue Volkswagen minibus only when two ruffians in plain clothes approached me at arm's length.

It is worth mentioning that if some big guys approach you in Malinauka District, they are not always policemen. But I heard the insistent: "Follow us, please!". I asked them to introduce themselves without hoping that the ruffians would show me their IDs. I just wanted them to commit "the usual violation" during an arrest of "political prisoners". Naturally, they did not show me any badges.

“Always ask policemen to show their IDs. At least, they should wear badges... They also have to tell you the reason for your detention. The law says that there should be a good  reason to detain people, not just "it seemed to us"... If you are suspected of something or resemble someone who is wanted - the circumstances should be true", - comments lawyer Tamara Sidarenka.

Run, man!

Another Akerestina prisoner - Ivan Amelchanka - told me a few days later that he had tried to run away from policemen. He ran to the other side but ran into... a police car! They had been waiting for him there. That is why he had to stop to avoid being thrown face-down onto the asphalt. We spent a day in one "house" with the author of the "<-- mycopok" performance and then he was transferred... "A house" is a cell in Akrestsina. The first floor is closed and only 13 "houses" function at the moment: three cells in the ground floor and  ten - in the second floor. The prisoners who work in the detention centre and in the city every day live on the ground floor. Those who will be released within a day are also transferred there.

I asked Tamara Sidarenka whether attempts to run away from policemen aggravate the status of the detained:

“All the circumstances aggravating administrative responsibility are listed in article 7.3 of the Administrative Code. It includes the refusal to stop illegal actions regardless of remarks, repeated crimes, involvement of minors, group violations, violations during a catastrophe or motivated by racial or national hatred, being in a state of intoxication... Nothing is said about attempts to run away so they should not be considered as an aggravating circumstance. The article also says that no other circumstances should be considered aggravating", - answered the lawyer having looked through the Code.

"My" policemen and me headed for the bus. One of them sat next to the driver. He was holding a copy of my passport. He compared it to the original one to make sure that he was not mistaken. The policemen refuted the existence of the copy 4 hour later in court... It was impossible to prove it anyway. The bus headed for Moscow District Department of the Interior.

"There is no sunlight... And there are no people..."

All my belongings were taken away in the police office, and all the laces and ties were taken off my clothes. I was put in a bull-pen. It was a stone cell, 1x2 metres in size. There was a small bench. I was in a similar cell in Frunze District Department of the Interior a year ago - the smell of fresh paint was unbearable and my temples started aching... Recalling it, I suddenly felt my watch on my wrist. Policemen did not notice it. I decided to hide it until the end: it seemed really important to know what time it was.  I kept hiding the watch during all the term of detention, I hid it in the torn cuff of my flannelette and in dirty socks before the two brutal "searches" when I had to collect my things all over "the house". The watch was not discovered.

It was essential that I knew what time it was during the first week of my imprisonment. But then it goes away. It turns out that you can tell the time with the help of sounds outside: new guards arrive at 8 and 9, you know it because of conversations and the clank of bars. Soldiers go to dinner at 2 p.m. and sing. A huge passenger plane flies over the detention centre at 14.30 - it means that we will also have dinner soon. The same soldiers go to have a rest before sleep at 9.30 p.m. By the way, they sing both "Katysha" and "Blood Group".

We return to the bull-pen. I am waiting for the investigator to make a list of my belongings and sign the report. A Chinese guy is making a row behind the door: he is boasting that he drank 4 bottles of champagne yesterday and demands an interpreter. The Chinese says that his name in Andrei and that he has just graduated from BSU and celebrated it. He says that they took away his cell-phone and beat him at night. He says "Gimme my cell-phone back, you biatch!" to everyone who leaves the detention centre. It is hard to say what they could have done to him if he weren't Chinese. However, he is Chinese and policemen are putting up with it.

A policeman leads me to the toilet and I see that the other detained are still in the room. I ask him why I am kept in a bull-pen while the rest can stay in the room with windows and sunlight.

"There is no sunlight,  - answers the policeman. - And there are no people..."

By signing a report, you agree with its contests

But the report was drawn up in my absence! The policemen began the list of my belongings with socks and condoms as if they were the most important things I had on me. Signing it, I wrote that I was absent during the creation of the report. The escort says that I am not allowed (!) to add any remarks to the report but asks me to sign it. He does not allow me to phone my relatives or colleagues and to call a lawyer. Those were violations, of course. That is why I wrote that I only received a copy of the report and refused to sign the rest.

The escort starts threatening me: if you do not sign it, we will simply write that you refused to sign it and nothing will change. But that's a lie: if you sign a report, you agree with its contents. And I do not want to admit that I swore in the street.

9th commandment

The escort goes away empty-handed. They take me to court on the same blue minibus a few minutes later. Policemen who detained me are sitting nearby.

"Will you be a witness in court?" - I asked one of them.

He nods.

"Won't your conscience prick you?" - I continue.

He shakes his head.

“You should always talk to such "witnesses" if you can, - thinks Tamara Sidarenka. - But I do not know what to say to prevent them from giving false evidence. Maybe you should say that one of the 10 commandments forbids " giving false evidence"... You should also tell them about karma. Such a bad deed as giving false evidence may affect their children and the next generations..."

The policeman says in court that he was patrolling my street in his uniform. He heard me swearing and made a remark. However, when he did not manage to stop such a hooligan, he called a police car and had to wait for it for about 5 minutes... he provided the details after additional questions. It will be described in the next chapter of Akrestsina diaries.